Handelsbanken

Last updated

Svenska Handelsbanken AB
Company type Publicly traded Aktiebolag
Nasdaq Stockholm:  SHB A
ISIN
Industry Financial services
Founded1 July 1871;152 years ago (1871-07-01)
Headquarters Stockholm, Sweden
Key people
Pär Boman (Chairman)
Michael Green [1] (President and Group CEO)
Products Banking and insurance
RevenueIncrease2.svg 43.35 billion kr (2021) [2]
Increase2.svg 23.48 billion kr (2021) [2]
Increase2.svg 19.54 billion kr (2021) [2]
Total assets Increase2.svg 3.35 trillion kr (2021) [2]
Total equity Increase2.svg 181.73 billion kr (2021) [2]
Number of employees
10,793 (Dec 2021) [2]
RatingSteady2.svg AA (Fitch Ratings) [2]
Website www.handelsbanken.com

Svenska Handelsbanken AB is a Swedish bank providing banking services including traditional corporate transactions, investment banking and trading as well as consumer banking including insurance. Handelsbanken is one of the major banks in Sweden with a nationwide branch network.

Contents

Since the mid 1990s Handelsbanken has been expanding its universal banking operations into the other Nordic countries, and also in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. The largest of these is in Britain with more than 150 branch offices. In October 2021 Handelsbanken announced that it will focus on its main markets Britain, Sweden and Norway and sell its operations in Finland and Denmark. [3]

History

Founding as Stockholms Handelsbank

Specimen of the AB Stockholms Handelsbank from 2 January 1898 AB Stockholms Handelsbank 500 skr 1898.jpg
Specimen of the AB Stockholms Handelsbank from 2 January 1898
The Market Square branch of Handelsbanken in Turku, Finland. Handelsbanken Turku.jpg
The Market Square branch of Handelsbanken in Turku, Finland.

Stockholms Handelsbank ("Stockholm Commerce Bank") was created in early 1871 by several large corporations and leading Stockholm residents. [4] [5] Several of the initial owners had been active in Stockholms enskilda bank, the forerunner of SEB, which had opened in 1856 as the first private bank of Stockholm, and left that bank in April 1871 after a conflict. [6] Handelsbanken began operating 1 July 1871 in rented space in the commercial and financial district in the central Old Town. The bank's first year was quite successful and soon, it was one of the city's leading financial institutions, functioning as a bank for businesses and also as an issuer of bonds. In 1873, the shares in Handelsbanken were listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. [4]

In 1887, the bank entered into a crisis due to considerable losses, but was able to pull through. [5] In 1893, the banking company of Louis Frænckel was fused with Stockholms Handelsbank, with Frænckel as the CEO. Under Frænckel's tenure, which lasted until his death in 1911, the bank was expanded with a notary department in 1896 and by a securities trading department in 1899. It also developed contacts with many leading foreign banks and financial institutions, which led to the buildup of trading activities in foreign currencies. The merge of the Julius Geber & Co banking company into Handelsbanken in 1906 contributed to its prominence in the Swedish foreign exchange market.

From 1914 to 1917, Stockholm's Handelsbank bought several smaller Swedish regional banks, and was in a short time transformed from a purely Stockholm-based bank to a bank with a large number of branch offices (38 in 1914 and 143 in 1917) throughout Sweden, in particular central and northern Sweden. [5] In 1918, new branches were opened in Gothenburg and Malmö to get better national coverage, [4] and in 1919, a bank in southern Sweden was bought, which brought the number of branch offices to over 250. After this expansion, the name was changed to Svenska Handelsbanken ("Swedish Commerce Bank") on 15 November 1919. [7]

1920–1945

Following the post–World War I recession, Sweden experienced deflation, which caused considerable problems for the financial sector. [4] In 1922, Handelsbanken failed to show a profit for the first time in its existence and in 1922–1923 it consolidated its activities, and made some write-downs, reductions in dividends and reserved funds to cover losses. [7] The second half of the 1920s were much better times for the bank. In 1926, Mälarebanken was fused into Handelsbanken, bringing the number of branch offices to 270, of which 28 in Stockholm.

The worldwide depression following the Wall Street Crash of 1929 led to reduced profits, and problems for borrowers resulted in the bank taking over stock in several industrial companies to secure their loans. Handelsbanken had however been cautious in their relation to Ivar Kreuger and his financial empire so it was not much affected by the Kreuger crash following Kreuger's death in 1932. Handelsbanken did however expand its ownership in Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget (SCA) as a result of the crash.

In the winter of 1943/1944, Handelsbanken formed a holding company for the companies owned by the bank after the financial problems of the 1920s and 1930s, as part of a plan to phase out the bank's ownership of these companies, which included L. M. Ericsson. The company was named Industrivärden ("The Industry Host" or "Industry Values"), and after the bank's shareholders had been given the opportunity to acquire shares in the holding company, it was listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange in 1945. [4]

1945–1970

Handelsbanken continued to expand by purchasing other banks in the 1940s and 1950s - Vänersborgsbanken, Norrköpings Folkbank, Luleå Folkbank and Gotlandsbanken. The mortgage company SIGAB was acquired in 1955 and renamed to Handelsbanken Hypotek. In the 1955 to 1965 period, 157 new branch offices were opened, many of these in the newly built suburbs of Stockholm, in order to increase the number of customers and to expand deposits.

Towards the end of the 1960s, the Swedish society saw increased socialist sentiments, just like many other European countries. This was particularly strong among students and other youth, and banks and industrialists in general were portrayed in a very negative way. During this time, Handelsbanken was also the subject of specific criticism from media and authorities, including foreign exchange transactions in 1969 that contravened regulations. The resulting crisis led to the resignation of the bank's management, including CEO Rune Höglund in 1970. [4]

1970–1990

After the resignation of the previous management, Jan Wallander was recruited as the bank's new CEO. Wallander had a background as an economic researcher who had later become CEO of Sundsvallsbanken, a regional bank in northern Sweden. Under Wallander's leadership, many changes were introduced which have continued to be characteristic of Handelsbanken since that time. During 1970–1972, Handelsbanken created eight regional banks with a high degree of independence, to which the branch offices belonged. Much of the decision making was decentralised to the local and regional level, and the financial management and control system was overhauled, by focusing more on reporting and less on central budgeting. The new organisation focused on achieving profitability rather than on volume growth, which had been the case in the 1950s and 1960s.

In 1973, a particular form of profit sharing scheme was introduced. When Handelsbanken meets its goals of higher return on equity than the average of the other listed Swedish banks, a profit share is paid to a foundation named Oktogonen, which keeps its fund entirely in Handelsbanken shares. Payment only takes place after retirement, which means that all employees are interested in securing the long-term profitability of the bank. Oktogonen owns around 10 per cent of Handelsbanken's shares.

In 1970, Handelsbanken installed its first six automated teller machines (ATMs), initially as a trial. [4]

In 1985, many aspects of the Swedish financial sector were deregulated which led to a considerable credit expansion in the following years. Handelsbanken's volume of loans doubled in three years in the end of the 1980s. Skånska Banken and its 76 branch offices was acquired in 1990.

1990–present

In 1990, Sweden entered a severe financial crisis, which was compounded by the credit expansion of the late 1980s and a financial bubble related to real estate prices. Many of the Swedish banks were hit hard by this crisis and had to be rescued by the government, which led to some of the banks being temporarily nationalised. Handelsbanken was least affected of the major Swedish banks, and was able to expand its market share in the 1990s. In 1997, Handelsbanken bought Stadshypotek, a major mortgage company, from the government.

In the 1980s Handelsbanken opened several branch offices in other countries mostly to support corporate banking activities. From 1990, several smaller Norwegian, Finnish and Danish banks were acquired to build up Handelsbanken's activities and branch networks in the other Nordic countries. In 1998, Handelsbanken's operations in Denmark, Finland and Norway were organised into regional banks, and started to operate in the same way as the regional bank organisation used by Handelsbanken in Sweden since the 1970s.

In late 1991, the bank introduced telephone banking services and on 10 December 1997 online banking followed.

In 1995, Handelsbanken acquired the vast majority of the credit and financing portfolio of the former Finnish bank SKOP Bank ( fi ; which went bust in the early-1990s Finnish banking crisis and the recession that followed), as well as SKOP's holdings in the Industrialization Fund of Finland Ltd (fi:Teollistamisrahasto).

In 1999, Handelsbanken decided to expand in the United Kingdom by organic growth. At that time the bank had three offices in the UK and opened a fourth in 2000. In 2007, the bank opened its 50th UK branch office, and in 2011 its 100th UK branch office. In 2002, the UK operations were organised as a regional bank, in the same way as the bank's Nordic operations. [4]

On 19 October 2021 Handelsbanken announced that it will sell its operations in Finland and Denmark and exit the two markets. Of Handelsbanken's total turnover, Finland and Denmark accounted for 10% from the beginning of 2021, but the share of expenses rose to 13%. Finnish and Danish operations generated 8% of the revenue. The main markets, Sweden, Norway and the UK, accounted for 91%. [8] [3]

On 15 June 2022 Handelsbanken confirmed it was in discussion with Jyske Bank for the acquisition of Handelsbankens Danish operations. [9]

On 31 May 2023 S-Bank announced to acquire the Finnish private customer, asset management and investment services operations of Handelsbanken. [10]

Subsidiaries and branches

Handelsbanken's branch office in Wetherby, England. Handelsbanken, Scott Lane, Wetherby (3rd August 2015).JPG
Handelsbanken's branch office in Wetherby, England.

Home markets:

International network:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nordea</span> Nordic financial institution

Nordea Bank Abp, commonly referred to as Nordea, is a Nordic financial services group operating in northern Europe with headquarters in Helsinki, Finland. The name is a blend of the words "Nordic" and "idea". The bank is the result of the successive mergers and acquisitions of the Finnish, Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian banks of Merita Bank, Nordbanken, Unidanmark, and Christiania Bank og Kreditkasse that took place between 1997 and 2001. The Nordic countries are considered Nordea's home market, having finalised the sales of their Polish bank in 2014, Baltic operations in 2019 and completed the exit from Russia in early 2022 following a 2019 decision to close the business there. Nordea is listed on Nasdaq Nordic exchanges in Helsinki, Copenhagen, and Stockholm and Nordea ADR is listed in the US.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SEB Group</span> Swedish financial group for corporate customers

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB, abbreviated SEB, is a Swedish bank headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. In Sweden and the Baltic countries, SEB has a full financial service offering. In Denmark, Finland, Norway, Germany, and the United Kingdom, the bank's operations are focused on corporate and investment banking services to corporate and institutional clients. The bank was founded in 1972 by the Swedish Wallenberg family, which is still SEB's largest shareholder through major investment company Investor AB. SEB is the largest Swedish bank by both market capitalisation and total assets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ivar Kreuger</span> Swedish civil engineer, financier, entrepreneur and industrialist

Ivar Kreuger was a Swedish civil engineer, financier, entrepreneur and industrialist. In 1908, he co-founded the construction company Kreuger & Toll Byggnads AB, which specialized in new building techniques. By aggressive investments and innovative financial instruments, he built a global match and financial empire. Between the two world wars, he negotiated match monopolies with European, Central American and South American governments, and finally controlled between two thirds and three quarters of worldwide match production, becoming known as the "Match King".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SCA (company)</span> Swedish timber, pulp and paper manufacturer

Svenska Cellulosa AB is a Swedish timber, pulp and paper manufacturer with headquarters in Sundsvall. It has approximately 3,300 employees and a turnover of approximately SEK 20.8 billion. Its main products include many one-use paper products, containerboard, solid-wood products, pulp and forest-based biofuel. SCA is Europe's largest private owner of forest land, with 2.7 million hectares. The global hygiene product company Essity was part of SCA until 2017.

Skandinaviska Banken was a Swedish bank founded in Gothenburg, 1864. Its foundation coincided with the political aspirations of the Scandinavian movement, which sought to unite Sweden, Norway and Denmark into a single kingdom. Even if these aspirations came to naught, there was a Scandinavian Monetary Union, with a common currency, and a union between Sweden and Norway, that the bank potentially would be able to exploit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forex Bank</span> Swedish private bank

FOREX Bank is currently the market-leading foreign exchange bureau in the Nordic region. The company was started in 1927 providing currency exchange for travellers, at the main Stockholm Central train station. Legend says that it started by the owner of Gyllenspet's Barber Shop at the station, when he discovered that most of his customers were tourists in need of currency for their trips. Therefore, the barber began keeping the major currencies on hand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swedbank</span> Swedish banking group

Swedbank AB is a Nordic-Baltic banking group based in Stockholm, Sweden, offering retail banking, asset management, financial, and other services. Swedbank has a leading presence in Estonia and has a strong presence in Latvia and Lithuania.

Kaupthing Bank was a major international Icelandic bank, headquartered in Reykjavík, Iceland. It was taken over by the Icelandic government during the 2008–2011 Icelandic financial crisis and the domestic Icelandic-based operations were spun into a new bank New Kaupthing, which was subsequently renamed Arion Banki. All the non-Icelandic assets and debts remained with the now defunct Kaupthing Bank. Prior to its collapse, it also allegedly loaned money to various parties with the purpose of buying Kaupthing shares.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danske Bank</span> Bank headquartered in Denmark

Danske Bank A/S is a Danish multinational banking and financial services corporation. Headquartered in Copenhagen, it is the largest bank in Denmark and a major retail bank in the northern European region with over 5 million retail customers. Danske Bank was number 454 on the Fortune Global 500 list for 2011. The largest shareholder with 21% of the share capital is A.P. Moller Holding, the investment holding company of the Maersk family.

Jyske Bank A/S is the third largest Danish bank in terms of market share.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tietoevry</span> Finnish IT software and service company

Tietoevry Corporation is a Finnish IT software and service company providing IT and product engineering services. Tietoevry is domiciled in Espoo, Finland, and the company's shares are listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki, NASDAQ OMX Stockholm and Oslo Stock Exchange. Tietoevry has approximately 24,000 employees across 20 countries, and has customers in the energy, forestry, banking, healthcare and public sectors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stockholms Enskilda Bank</span>

Stockholms Enskilda Bank, sometimes called Enskilda banken or SEB, was a Swedish bank, founded in 1856 by André Oscar Wallenberg as Stockholm's first private bank. In 1857, Stockholms Enskilda Bank began to employ women, claiming to be the first bank to do.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Storebrand</span> Norwegian financial services company

Storebrand is a financial services company in Norway. By volume, the company's main activities are related to life insurance and pension savings. However, the company also has major divisions working on investments, banking and, until 1999 and again since 2006, P&C insurance products. Through its acquisition of Swedish SPP from Handelsbanken in 2007, Storebrand gained a sizable division dedicated to the Swedish market for life insurance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WM-data</span> Swedish IT consultancy company

WM-data was a Swedish IT consultancy company based in Stockholm, and was completely incorporated by Logica on 27 February 2008. The company was quoted on the Stockholm Stock Exchange (SSE) as a member of the A-list, but after LogicaCMG's acquisition, WM-data was dequoted. The company was active in the Nordic countries, including Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland, and had around 9,000 employees. There were local offices in Estonia and Poland as well, which are now Logica offices. In 2005, it realised a turnover of 10 billion SEK.

NASDAQ OMX Commodities Europe is a trade name of NASDAQ OMX Oslo ASA, the single financial energy market for Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland. Before 1 November 2010, it was known by the name Nord Pool. As of 2008, Nord Pool was the largest power derivatives exchange and the second largest exchange in European Union emission allowances (EUAs) and global certified emission reductions (CERs) trading.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">S-Bank</span> Finnish cooperative retail banking organization

S-Bank Plc is a Finnish retail bank and wealth manager. It is owned by SOK Corporation and the regional co-operatives in the S-Group, a Finnish retailing cooperative organisation.

Bank of Åland Plc is a Finnish commercial bank and banking group with over 700 employees and operations in Åland, Finland and Sweden. The bank was founded in 1919 and was listed on the stock exchange in 1942. Its president and CEO is Peter Wiklöf.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie</span> Swedish statesman and military man

Count Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie was a Swedish statesman and military man. He became a member of the Swedish Privy Council in 1647 and came to be the holder of three of the five offices counted as the Great Officers of the Realm, namely Lord High Treasurer, Lord High Chancellor and Lord High Steward. He also served as Governor-General in the Swedish dominion of Livonia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nordnet</span> Nordic financial services company

Nordnet AB (publ), commonly shortened to Nordnet, is a pan-Nordic financial services company, headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. Nordnet was founded in 1996, becoming the first Internet broker in Sweden, and has expanded since to provide other saving and investment services. The company is divided into three business areas, Savings and investments, Loans, and Pensions.

References

  1. ↑ "Handelsbankens koncernledning | Handelsbanken".
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Annual Report 2021" (PDF). Handelsbanken. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  3. 1 2 "Handelsbanken vetäytyy Suomesta". Ilta-Sanomat. 19 October 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 The history of Handelsbanken, Handelsbanken, October 2012
  5. 1 2 3 Stockholms handelsbank, Nordisk familjebok , vol. 27 (1918)
  6. ↑ Stockholms enskilda bank, Nordisk familjebok , vol. 27 (1918)
  7. 1 2 Svenska handelsbanken, Nordisk familjebok , vol. 38 (1926)
  8. ↑ "Lehdistötiedotteet | Handelsbanken". www.handelsbanken.fi.
  9. ↑ "Handelsbanken confirms discussions with Jyske Bank". News Powered by Cision. 15 June 2022. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
  10. ↑ S-Pankki. "S-Bank to acquire Handelsbanken's Finnish private customer, asset management and investment services operations". www.s-pankki.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 12 June 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.